[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 97 (Thursday, June 27, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1191-E1192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        50TH ANNIVERSARY OF CDC

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 27, 1996

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, the Nation's prevention agency, the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], will turn 50 on July 
1. As co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues and a 
strong supporter of this agency's prevention mission, I would like to 
acknowledge the 50th anniversary milestone with a few examples of how 
CDC has effectively promoted women's health.
  The CDC National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program 
provides mammography screening and Pap smear services to low-income and 
underserved women. This program has been critical to the early 
detection of breast and cervical cancer in poor, elderly, and minority 
women.
  CDC has been working toward the implementation of a national STD-
related infertility prevention plan, and has awarded grants to 
university/health department consortia for chlamydia research. A 
chlamydia prevention program in region X between 1988 and 1994 has 
provided chlamydia screening in nearly every title X family planning 
clinic; the resulting rate of chlamydia has decreased from about 10 
percent to below 5 percent. The CDC is currently working to implement 
this program throughout the country.
  CDC has issued guidelines promoting voluntary HIV counseling and 
testing of pregnant women, recognizing that a voluntary approach is the 
most effective way of preventing perinatal transmission of HIV. The CDC 
guidelines will provide access to early interventions that will 
actually prevent perinatal transmission, and link them to HIV care and 
services. Preserving a patient-provider relationship of trust is 
essential to keeping women in the health care system.
  CDC has implemented a long-term, comprehensive national strategy for 
reducing smoking among women. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 
killer of American women, and smoking prevention must be a primary part 
of any strategy to address this women's health threat. CDC has awarded 
a number of grants to State health departments to implement effective 
tobacco prevention and control programs targeted to women.
  CDC has also funded community demonstration projects to prevent 
violence against women, another priority of the Women's Caucus.
  I am particularly pleased to note the establishment, in 1994, of an 
Office on Women's Health at CDC, which has worked to ensure that 
women's health needs are adequately addressed in CDC's research 
projects and prevention programs. Indeed, promoting women's

[[Page E1192]]

health is one of the five priorities of the agency, as articulated by 
its Director, Dr. David Satcher.
  Again, I congratulate the agency and its dedicated scientists, 
epidemiologists, and public health personnel for their hard work and 
accomplishments, and wish them continued success in the next 50 years.

                          ____________________